Living and working here in the highly desirable Noosa region definitely has its benefits. As an agent, I get to see the inside of some of the most stunning houses in the country!

Noosa has its very own style – from the natural beauty of the environment to the architecture.

The battle to preserve as much as possible of the beauty of Noosa and its surrounds has been hard fought and goes back to the late ’70s and beyond. We have the residents of the time and the Noosa Council to thank for the Noosa we have inherited today.

In those days, I was working as an assistant to a local property developer. At the time the rush was on to acquire property in the “red-hot” Noosa area.

Another developer wanted to build high-rises on Hastings Street and beyond. The acting council and community members got behind the plan to defy the proposal and preserve a Noosa without high-rises.

It was an exhilarating achievement for all involved – one which has preserved the inherent beauty of the region as well as the property values.

Believe it or not, we used to promote Noosa by flying around the country in a private jet. Heady days indeed! It wasn’t long before I was working as an agent, before then going on to purchase a stake in Laguna Real Estate, with a staff of around eight.

Laguna Real Estate is one of the oldest agencies in Noosa, going back to the mid ’70s. The current office on Noosa parade has been there for more than 27 years.

It has been an incredible journey – after 24 years in the industry I still live and breathe property and love the excitement of marketing a property and negotiating between a buyer and a seller.

I can’t quite believe how Laguna has grown from one office to five. We have a strong presence in Gympie, Tewantin and Coolum, as well as Noosa and surrounds.

The staff has grown with the company, with sales and administration numbering more than 50 professionals. I am very proud of this achievement. With co owner Peter Desbrow, we remain a privately run and absolutely Australian-owned company.

Laguna has won a swag of industry awards, including REIQ Real Estate Agency of The Year 2005. It was a finalist in two categories for 2007.

Having five offices in five very different regions means we are experiencing a broad cross-section of buyer activity – any one of the regions can appear to be anywhere in the different stages of the property cycle.

It’s true that consumers are highly sensitive to what’s being portrayed by the media – usually it’s a limited view of the overall picture.

What’s going on overall in this little end of the universe is that we are increasingly seeing renewed confidence and heightened activity.